Q&A: How AI is reshaping the local film industry
Cape Town’s established film sector is feeling the impact of AI.
One of the country’s top film location companies, Amazing Spaces, is now expanding into the real estate sector, and recently acquired Cape Town firm Blue Chip Properties.
Amazing Spaces founder Julia Finnis-Bedford says the film industry must pivot to stay ahead of the game. Her company has sourced locations for Hollywood films such as Home Alone, which was shot largely in a large heritage building in Wynberg.
Finnis-Bedford spoke to Cape Chamber about her innovative new business model:
1. Your company has helped grow the local film industry with so many Amazing Spaces. Why the business model shift at this stage?
Amazing Spaces grew up in the film industry, and the industry will always be part of our DNA. But over the past three years, as we built our real estate business, it became clear that the skills we developed in film - curating extraordinary spaces, nurturing long-term relationships, and delivering high-touch service - translate naturally into property sales. At the same time, the film industry has gone through significant shifts, particularly with new technology and the rise of AI. The acquisition of Blue Chip and our expansion into real estate is less a change of direction and more an evolution: we’re building a future-fit business that honours our original craft while unlocking broader opportunities for our clients and agents.
2. Can you clarify how AI has changed the film industry?
AI has changed the nature and volume of location-based work. Many productions now use AI for pre-visualisation, world-building, and even background scene generation. That means fewer large-scale location days, shorter shoots, and a shift in budgets. Real locations are still essential = especially for authenticity - but the pattern of demand has changed, and service companies have needed to adapt.
3. What is the current trend in terms of preferred film locations, or is it still a diverse mix?
It remains a diverse mix, but the trend is toward locations that offer strong production value with minimal transformation: contemporary homes, clean architectural lines, beautiful gardens, quintessential beach houses and spaces that can double easily for international cities. Cape Town's appeal is still its diversity - mountains, beaches, wine farms, industrial spaces - but productions are more selective, often preferring turnkey-ready locations that reduce setup costs.
4. The acquisition of Blue Chip Properties is innovative. Is this the first such marriage of film location expertise and real estate sales?
As far as we know, yes - certainly at this scale. Film and property have always been linked conceptually, but they’ve operated in separate worlds. Combining the two creates a powerful ecosystem: homeowners benefit from two revenue streams (film rental and potential sales), our agents gain access to long-standing relationships and unique inventory, and buyers get a curated set of architecturally interesting homes. It’s a natural synergy that hasn’t been fully leveraged until now.
5. Many of your film locations were in leafy Constantia or the Deep South. Did this influence your choice of Blue Chip? And it appears you also want to branch out beyond the Deep South?
Absolutely. Blue Chip has deep roots in the Constantia Valley spreading to the Deep South and a 25+ year track record there, which complements our existing footprint in the Southern Suburbs,
City bowl and Atlantic Seaboard and the Blouberg area. But the merger is also about growth: we’re expanding into new territories, attracting new agents, and building a citywide presence. Our brand promise is “Dare to Be Different / Live Boldly,” and part of that is taking the quality and ethos we’re known for and scaling it beyond our traditional hubs.
6. Cape Town’s property market seems invincible. How do you see things panning out over the next few years?
Cape Town continues to outperform the rest of the country due to semigration, lifestyle migration, strong infrastructure, and investor confidence. We expect steady, resilient growth - perhaps not the explosive pandemic-era spikes, but sustained demand in well-managed suburbs with good schools, stable services, and walkable communities. Buyers are seeking quality of life, security, and long-term value, and Cape Town is uniquely positioned to deliver all three, albeit that the prices have risen significantly over the past couple of years.
7. Getting back to film locations, what would you say was your most interesting project, with the most interesting location?
Our most significant projects are probably the 2 ITV Love Island series that we have hosted – they shot with us in a Constantia home and then the following year in one of our locations – a large farm in Franschhoek. They spent 4 months on location building internal walls, putting in hidden cameras, removing fruit tree orchards (only to replant them later), bringing in truck loads of beach sand, removing a table weighing 1 ton from an upper floor level, the list goes on. It reminded us why flexible, large, adaptable spaces that provide the right backdrop will always matter.
8. On the film side, would you say there is more we could be doing, both at Government level and the private sector, to grow the sector?
Yes. The national rebate system has been one of the biggest levers driving international work to South Africa, and the recent cuts and delays in processing have created real uncertainty. Lower caps and slower approvals make large productions think twice, and that affects the entire value chain—from producers and crews to service companies and location partners like us.
At government level, restoring confidence in the rebate system is crucial: faster turnaround times, predictable adjudication, and a structure that keeps South Africa competitive globally. On the private sector side, we can continue raising standards, educating all stakeholders of rising costs and the necessity to remain competitive globally, and working together through industry bodies to advocate for a sustainable future.
Cape Town remains an extraordinary filming destination, but the incentive framework needs to support that advantage if we want the sector to thrive long term, and the private sector need to work together to keep the costs competitive.